This Year's Rolex 24 At Daytona On Track To Be One Its Most Successful Events

The Rolex 24 race at Daytona Int'l Speedway is tracking to be one of the best in recent memory, track President Joie Chitwood III said. The facility sold out camping and parking in its infield earlier than ever. As a result, it began selling RV and camping space in its West lot outside the track. It has sold 80 spaces there. Chitwood said, “Those are early indicators of great demand and selling out opportunities. We’re really looking good on the camping, RV and display side. The hospitality side is going well. We’re in a great position compared to last year.” DIS increased display space in the infield for this weekend’s race, and it has sold out of all the space it set aside. It will have a 10-20% increase in manufacturer participation as Porsche, Audi, GM, Ferrari and others have committed to set up displays. The speedway still has some suites available on the front stretch, and ticket sales for sports car races are dependent on walk-up purchases. Chitwood said the weather looks good for the race on Saturday and Sunday, so he expects ticket sales to do well. He credited the first year of the United SportsCar Championship, a combination of American Le Mans and NASCAR’s Grand-Am Series, with driving interest in this year’s race. It is positioned to be the third consecutive year the revenue for the Rolex 24 has increased for Daytona. Chitwood: “We’ve done a really good job to grow the event. We’ve seen nice trajectory the last three years and we’re seeing indicators from the unification that there’s more sponsor involvement and display space from the manufacturer. The consumer side just needs to match up and I won’t know until Sunday.”

COVERAGE ON BIG FOX: Fox will air two hours of the race live on its broadcast network Saturday, marking the first time the network has shown the race. Int'l Motor Sports Association President Scott Atherton said that was driven in large part by last year’s Grand-Am-ALMS merger and NASCAR’s support of the series. (NASCAR acquired ALMS in late '12.) Atherton said, “You take all that’s happened (with the merger) and you wrap around the resources and support of NASCAR, and that’s what makes this different. Ask Jim France and he would say NASCAR didn’t fully embrace Grand-Am, but the collaboration that’s occurring now is unprecedented. The decision to put two hours on Fox is the most graphic example of what that’s done.”